Friday movie roundup – Nov. 5

Citizens of Los Angeles, New York, Seattle, Austin, Philadelphia, Boston, and Washington D.C. should skip the big studio releases this weekend and see “Four Lions,” which is a very funny and dark British comedy about terrorism. Goodness knows we could use some more of those.

It’s been all the buzz ever since it premiered at Sundance in January, but none of the usual indie distributors were willing to take the risk of releasing it. Then, just in the nick of time, the folks behind Austin’s world-famous Alamo Drafthouse theaters started a new distribution wing, and “Four Lions” became their first product. This is good news for everybody, because the Drafthouse people have excellent taste, and “Four Lions” is hilarious. Go see it. The film’s website has a schedule of when it will open in additional cities.

As for wide releases, feh. “Megamind” is the best of the lot, and it’s barely on the “recommended” side. “Due Date” is weirdly unfunny. “For Colored Girls” wasn’t screened for critics, but I reviewed it for Cinematical as soon as it opened, and it ain’t pretty.

Also in limited release: “Fair Game” (review at Film.com), starring Naomi Watts as outed spy Valerie Plame and Sean Penn as her husband, Joe Wilson. Whatever sensation that sentence inspires in you is probably how you’ll feel about the movie, too.

Subscribe to “In the Dark,” a weekly e-mail with the latest movie reviews, DVD releases, and other pertinent info.

Listen to “Movie B.S. with Bayer and Snider,” a weekly Internet radio show featuring Jeff Bayer and Eric D. Snider, at PDX.fm. It’s live at 11 a.m. (Pacific) every Friday, then downloadable as a podcast. Ignore the iTunes “explicit” tag; we always keep it PG.